Carbliss, one of Wisconsin’s fastest-growing beverage brands, came to the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh expecting to hear a series of student media proposals. What they didn’t expect was to be leaning forward in their seats as senior Kenny Satori and his teammates unveiled a TouchTunes activation idea that immediately grabbed their attention.
The team’s concept, which linked Carbliss to bar-goers through digital jukebox ads and QR-driven song credits, was one of several innovative pitches delivered during a semester-long applied learning project in UW–Oshkosh’s Advertising Media course.
Carbliss, headquartered in Plymouth, has quickly become a major force in the ready-to-drink cocktail industry and has earned national recognition for its explosive growth. The brand has topped Inc.’s Midwest Regionals list and reported selling 2.8 million cases in 2024, a 100% increase over the previous year that ranks Carbliss among the top five fastest-growing RTD cocktail brands in the U.S.
Five student teams spent the semester working like small agency units — researching audiences, analyzing consumer behavior, comparing media channels, building target profiles and drafting early creative concepts. They learned to evaluate reach, frequency and impressions; calculate cost-per metrics; and use secondary research tools like Nielsen and Comscore. Throughout the semester, teams iterated on their ideas through peer review, instructor feedback and structured checkpoints that mirrored real campaign development. All of this work culminated in the final week of the semester, when they presented their recommendations to a real client with real stakes.
Satori, a radio TV film major from Denmark, Wisconsin, said presenting a real idea to a real company changed everything for him and his teammates.
“It’s really cool to have something to actually work toward instead of a fake scenario,” he said. “Presenting to people who actually work in marketing makes it feel real.”
Carbliss marketing coordinator Jordan Jossie and public relations and communications coordinator Casey Suttner attended every presentation, marking the company’s first-ever collaboration with a university class at this level. Katie Dennis, director of marketing for Carbliss, joined the presentations remotely. All three left impressed.
Jossie said the students were already thinking like professionals.
“They’re talking about topics that we discuss on a daily basis at our job,” Jossie said. “Seeing a fresh mindset approach these topics, and students who are probably our consumers giving us perspective on how to gain more reach and build our brand, is really interesting and insightful.”
The TouchTunes idea from Satori’s team—part of the audio and podcast assignment—quickly emerged as one of the most memorable.
“It’s such an interesting concept that we think would work really well, and it’s something we’ve never thought about,” Jossie said.
Each student team was assigned a specific media channel:
- Google and Meta advertising
- Connected TV and video
- Audio and podcasting
- Out-of-home and experiential
- Event sponsorship
This structure mirrored the division of roles within real agencies, allowing students to develop both specialized skills and inter-team collaboration.
UWO Teaching Assistant Professor Kathy Fredrickson designed the course to mimic the work of professional agencies and marketing departments. She has incorporated real clients into her courses for more than two decades.
“My customer is the student, and my job is to deliver value to them,” she said. “The greatest way they can get value is to dig in, do the work and feel the stress of deadlines and creative breakthroughs. A case study isn’t going to cut it. You have to have a real client.”
Fredrickson intentionally partners with Wisconsin-based companies so students can observe brand presence firsthand and better understand regional audiences. She connected with Carbliss through LinkedIn and later learned UW-Oshkosh is the first university class the company has ever collaborated with at this level.
She also incorporates AI literacy through a Human-AI-Human framework that requires students to think critically before prompting AI tools and to analyze results after using them.
Although the course is designed for student growth, Carbliss representatives emphasized how valuable the ideas were for them as well.
“This is another way for us to give back,” Suttner said. “And it’s actually probably a little more valuable for us, hearing new ideas from students who may be our consumers.”
Jossie added: “They’ve probably heard of Carbliss, maybe consumed Carbliss. Having a local college community tie-in with a local brand is awesome.”
